Mountain Bike World Championships results | Van der Poel 29th as Jayco AlUla's Alan Hatherly defends world title

Team Jayco AlUla's Alan Hatherly has become an XCO World Champion for the second consecutive time, conquering the rainbow jersey in Switzerland. Mathieu van der Poel was the headliner in the race but could only ride to 29th on the road.

The race in Crans-Montana began with Victor Koretzky putting his rivals under pressure, with Mathieu van der Poel climbing up the field in the high-altitude race. The Dutchman reached as high as the third place but on the third lap he began to struggle and lost contact with the leading groups.

The race was decided very well early on as Alan Hatherly attacked at the start of lap 2 and began to build a gap of 1:30 minutes that was unreachable for anyone else. The South African managed to defend his title from last year with a stellar victory.

Simone Avondetto rode to a second place after a very heated battle for the medals, whilst Koretzky had a late surge to overtake Luca Schatti into the bronze medal. Mathieu van der Poel crossed the line a distant 29th place.